In a recent financial call addressing investors, EA CEO Andrew Wilson firmly stated that the company has no plans to increase the price of its games, despite major competitors like Microsoft and Nintendo moving to $80 price points. Wilson emphasized EA's commitment to providing "incredible quality and exponential value" to its playerbase, citing the success of their cooperative adventure game Split Fiction, which has sold an impressive 4 million copies.
Wilson elaborated on the evolution of EA's business model over the last decade, noting a significant shift from traditional retail sales of physical game copies to a more diverse pricing strategy. "In a world where everything we did 10 years ago was about selling shiny discs in plastic boxes on retail shelves — well, that’s still a *part* of our business, it’s a significantly smaller part of our business, and we now have pricing representing everything from free-to-play all the way to deluxe editions and beyond," he explained. This approach allows EA to cater to a wide range of consumer preferences and budgets, from $1 offerings to premium $100 packages.
The CEO underscored that EA's primary goal remains to deliver high-quality experiences that offer substantial value, which has proven to be a successful strategy for the company. "And what we've discovered over the course of time is \[when\] we can marry quality and value together, our business is strong, resilient, and continues to grow," Wilson added. CFO Stuart Canfield reinforced this stance, stating that EA's current pricing strategy remains unchanged.
This news comes as a relief to gamers, especially following Microsoft's announcement last week of raising Xbox prices, including controllers, headsets, and some games. While the price increase for consoles and accessories has already been implemented, Microsoft plans to charge $79.99 for new, first-party games during the holiday season.
The trend of increasing game prices is evident across the AAA gaming industry, with prices escalating from $60 to $70 over the past five years. Nintendo has also announced $80 price tags for upcoming Switch 2 exclusives like Mario Kart World and other Switch 2 Edition games. The Switch 2 itself is set to launch at $450, a decision that has sparked debate among fans, though analysts argue it's inevitable given current economic conditions.
Given EA's stance, fans can anticipate that the next iterations of EA Sports FC, Madden, and Battlefield will maintain the $70 standard edition pricing. However, this announcement comes amidst reports of EA cutting around 100 jobs at Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment and making broader cuts affecting approximately 300 individuals across the organization, as reported by IGN last week.
